Design and Construction of Environmental High Performance Hybrid Engineered Timber Buildings Erasmus Project

Project Title

Design and Construction of Environmental High Performance Hybrid Engineered Timber Buildings

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: New innovative curricula/educational methods/development of training courses; International cooperation, international relations, development cooperation; Environment and climate change

Project Summary

The HybridTim project promotes sustainable, environmentally friendly design and construction of hybrid timber buildings. In the near future timber buildings will form a much bigger part of the European and international built environment. The future sustainable hybrid timber buildings will be designed and constructed with sustainable-engineered timber components, but some amount of steel and concrete construction materials will remain to satisfy structural, fire prevention, moisture absorption and economic requirements. Using the combination of wood, concrete and steel will provide sustainable solutions to building structures as well as potential to improve building performance and design.
Architects and engineering companies have already started designing hybrid timber buildings. However, now higher education of designers and engineers mostly focuses on steel and concrete buildings, and sometimes on low-rise timber buildings. In order to satisfy the needs of the labour market, it is necessary to prepare students with innovative applied skills in the area of design, construction and onsite construction management of hybrid timber buildings. To educate a new generation of students, it is necessary to develop and integrate an innovative multi-disciplinary BSc/BA study module.
Project HybridTim aims to fulfill the future demands in higher education of students in design and construction of high environmental performance hybrid engineered timber buildings by trans-disciplinary innovative student-centered learning approaches.
Objectives:
1) To develop and deliver new trans-disciplinary module on design and construction of engineered hybrid timber buildings, which meets the needs of the HEIs and labour market representatives.
2) To improve competencies of students and teachers in problem solving and team work, innovative thinking, motivation, awareness of cross-professional project input and project management by using project based learning, learning by doing and blended learning approaches.
3) To educate all participants (students, teachers, entrepreneurs) in the field of the engineered hybrid timber construction.
4) To ensure open awareness of the project results to local, national, EU level and international target groups.
The project will be implemented by five higher education institutions from Denmark, Lithuania, Spain, Latvia and Austria, Study and Consulting Center and Spanish association Gremi Fusta i Moble.
Main target groups are higher education institutions, in particular teachers/trainers and BSc/BA students, whose specialization is directly related to architecture, design, civil engineering, construction technology or similar subjects. Moreover, it is envisaged that the project will be relevant for business companies and will foster further development of sustainable hybrid timber construction.
In frames of the project four intellectual outputs will be developed: 1) Competency framework; 2) BSc/BA module “Design and Construction of Hybrid Engineered Timber Buildings” (9 ECTS); 3) E-learning platform; 4) Joint academic publications.
At least 20 teachers/trainers will participate in intensive training course in Denmark, where competences on innovative project based learning, learning by doing and blended learning approaches will be developed. New trans-disciplinary module and e-learning platform will be jointly developed by partners from five countries in consultation with business enterprises. The new module will be tested in three intensive learning/teaching courses that will take place in Austria, Spain and Latvia. International building and construction project phases, which are used in most EU countries, will be adapted in the HybridTim project as a main template, namely brief phase, outline proposal, scheme design, detail 1 and detail 2 phases. In total 75 BSc/BA students will be educated. Students will gain innovative trans-disciplinary knowledge in hybrid timber construction; using innovative learning approaches they will develop their research, teamwork, communication, and cooperation, creative thinking, problem-solving skills required in modern daily work environment.
Stakeholders whose activities are related to construction and, in particular, timber construction, e.g. associations and private enterprises, will be involved in development of new module, therefore they will have an opportunity to share their expertise and include the topics that will help to acquire competences, required in labour market. In this way collaboration between academic and business sector will be strengthened.
At least 30 international and 70 local participants from HEIs, educational authorities and business companies will attend the international conference in Denmark, where innovative intellectual outputs will be presented. It will result in increased public awareness about the outputs of the project.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 413083 Eur

Project Coordinator

VIA UNIVERSITY COLLEGE & Country: DK

Project Partners

• STUDY AND CONSULTING CENTER
• TECHNISCHE UNIVERSITAET WIEN
• VILNIAUS GEDIMINO TECHNIKOS UNIVERSITETAS
• RIGAS TEHNISKA UNIVERSITATE
• GREMI FUSTA I MOBLE
• UNIVERSITAT POLITECNICA DE CATALUNYA